Chinese Way of Thinking

One of the things that continues to amaze me is that with so many space-age buildings, advanced subway systems, HUGE malls etc. etc etc. there are so many basic services that just aren't available to everyday people. 


Let me sum up the story. Since I have moved in, my toilet would get blocked from time to time no matter how little went in. Then on Sunday, "stuff" started to come out of the drain in the floor. I was told that it is because the pipes are getting backed up. That you can't put toilet paper in the toilets. This just confounds me because how in a new building can you not have 21st Century plumbing? I may need to ask a foreigner that is living in my building if they are having the same problem because it could just be what they are telling me and it may not be true.


Another example, is that you cannot drink tap water here, or in any Chinese city for that matter, perhaps maybe Hong Kongers can. You would think that of their $500 stimulus that they would have invested money into sewage and water filtration systems.


I asked a number of my Chinese friends about this, and they responded that this is how a Chinese person thinks. If your buildings, airports, train systems etc. look amazing then everything must be amazing.


Also, on a slightly different topic, I went grocery shopping today and when you go to pay you have to pay for each plastic bag you use. The cashier girl gives me 2. I have about $80 worth of grocery's! So when she starts stuffing and stuffing and stuffing all of my things (including my bread) into bags I just asked for 4 more bags. She looked at me in disbelief! Chinese people are so frugal that they will stuff everything into as little number of bags as possible even if the bags cost .1 yuan each!


I tried uploading pictures of my apartment but there are so many and it takes to much time, so I think I will open a flickr account or some other type of photo sharing account and then will share with everyone the link.